Update on the Legacy of the Sith

[LadyAdmiral]

Hello. Sorry to hear of the delay. Here's a list of questions I hope to see one the FAQ that we made together with stream chat:

 

1. Will anything be coming out before February 15th, 2022, or is every part of the update delayed to the new date?

 

2. Is the operation R4-Anomaly expected to come out with the expansion, or later?

 

3. Could we or will we have a double xp and double renown event leading up to the expansion so we can work on our Renown achievements and prepare more characters to 75 for level 80?

 

4. Will life day still be happening? and when?

 

5. Are all teased parts of the expansion still coming out on the February 15th date, or is anything being removed or added?

 

6. When will Galactic Season 2 start, with February 15th expansion launch or before then?

 

7. Player feedback has not been very positive when it comes to the ability changes/removals/condensing, will we be seeing any changes compared to what we saw on the PTS for that system?

 

8. Player feedback about combat styles opening up when it comes to choices has been very good. Will we see any changes to that compared to what we have seen recently in dev posts, like being able to re-choose your first combat style on existing characters? Or being able to flip a new character from dark to light, even if you already have Dark V or Light V for thematic play?

 

9. What will be on PTS? Anything that was not tested before, example loadouts or weapon in outfit designer?

 

10. Some players subscribed recently specifically to get the expansion, knowing what the original date was, and due to limited funds had planned to only subscribe for one month to unlock the expac. Will you be able to either grant them the expansion for free when it comes out if they were subscribed for December 14th, or refund their subscription so they can re-sub closer to the new date? I would like to know if I should advise them to contact support for a refund or not bother.

 

11. Will season 14th of ranked still be ending on December 14th creating a super long pre-season, or will the ending be delayed until the February 15, 2022 date?

 

EDIT 12. Will we still have the typical anniversary event with the vendor and anniversary items?

Edited December 7, 2021 by LadyAdmiral

[EnzoForMe]

You should end the ranked season on the original December date. Players have earned where they're at and deserve receiving their rewards- extending a season by 2 months 1 week before it was due to end seriously hurts the competitive aspect of the format, particularly platinum rewards. I'd prefer to see a longer pre-season where new players can practice and gain skills to hit the ground running in the following season.

 

I also believe that if the season isn't ended as originally planned, the ranked population will be relatively low from the original December date to February 15th, leading to easy wintrading and queue manipulation opportunities for players who didn't earn their rewards during the actual season.

Edited December 7, 2021 by EnzoForMe

[Tiranea]

I don't mind a delay, but can you explain a bit more about why this announcement came so last minute? (I have guildies who planned their holidays around the launch and are understandably ticked off.) You only locked down the 14th as the original release date less than three weeks ago. What changed so dramatically in those weeks that you suddenly realised you need another two months?

[BallisticKaine]

Hey everyone,

 

I just made an announcement concerning the launch of our Legacy of the Sith expansion, and I encourage you to read the blog post.

 

We know you will have some questions in response to the blog, so feel free to ask them here and we'll be addressing them in an FAQ later today which we will continue update as you have more questions.

 

Be mindful of our forum guidelines as we want to ensure we can quickly answer your concerns and keep more information flowing your way.

 

---Keith---

 

This is gonna leave a VERY sour taste in everyone's mouth. You announced this what 2 weeks ago and now a week before launch you delay it. You guys knew when you mentioned the release date that it wasn't ready at that time. You did this to boost your subscription numbers for the holidays plain and simple. You better be taking the next TWO months to rework the sad and rushed ability pruning you did to the classes, revert the changes to tacticals in game or just scrap all the pre 7.0 ones, be making some major improvements to character creation, or this is just gonna FLOP HARD CORE and the game will die.

 

You all heard the feedback on Guardian/Juggernaut and Sentinel/Marauder and how badly the choices you decide our did not work. You option to rework Grit Teeth because it seems to OP for the class is BS. If you still think that then just scrap ever pre 7.0 tactical scrapped from the game. Come up with complete knew ones then. There are just as many other OP tacticals out there for other classes that need a rework not just Grit Teeth.

 

Customization upgrades to character creation then to me is allow all Human Species to have tattoo options off all from every class story that has tattoo option. Remove Cyborg as a race, because lets be honest no one is born a cyborg, and allow cyborg to be an option for species that are basically human. So human, Chiss, Miraluka, Mirialan, Rattataki.

[Kalnarius]

Don't usually participate in the forums, but this seems to warrant it.

 

First, definitely think that a completed expansion is better than one that makes an arbitrary deadline. I think it was the right decision to delay the release if that's what is needed and support it.

 

Second, it seems like a delay of 2 months is much more than bug squashing and pretty significant overhauls incoming to the planned changes. I have been putting off PTS due to hearing a lot of feedback that made me less than happy. What what I've heard a lot of the least popular changes had been eased back a bit, but I still was at best apprehensive. The news of not being able to alter existing character's primary combat style seemed to be a setback to this progress and many seemed quite upset about it. I'm guessing the FAQ coming soon will address at least some of the potential changes.

 

Third, is there any chance that those who returned and subbed again, or for the first time, anticipating they would get the expansion on 12/14/2021 getting access to the expansion when it comes out even if they don't keep their sub in the meantime? I seem to remember this being a thing that happened once in the past but can't remember specifics. As a player who has subbed for a long time, the release of the expansion and the subsequent delay was not likely to change my subscription status (of course if I really don't like the expansion changes and story themselves then THAT may affect my sub status). However, I know a few people that used to play the game that returned specifically for the expansion and now may feel...misled by the 12/14/2021 release date being delayed to 2/15/2022 only a week before the announced release date. Is it possible to let players who are subbed on 12/14/2021 get access to the expansion? I think most would resub anyways for the actual release, but providing guaranteeing access to those that had returned to the game and to having a subscription specifically for the expansion would go a long way towards preventing players from feeling taken advantage of.

 

Good luck in the meantime with the upcoming changes/alterations/tweaks/updates and any fallout from the decision to delay the release.

 

Its really not going to be completed to what you may think it is they have seriously ran into issues with R-4 and base 7.0 being seperated causing issues so they have retracted the whole keeping them seperated. Outside of that they are probably a 2% chance they are going to polish anything or release what people are hoping for. What people are seriously hoping for is a WoW sized story expansion and raids and thats just never going to happen has not happened with any expansion. RotHC had the most raids of any expansion while Shadow of Revan and Kotfe had the most story of any expansions. They are not going to retract skills being eliminated you can already count that out. As much people want them to retract it wont happen. All they did basically in PTS with class/combat styles thusfar was alter numbers within skill tree perks out of the entire previous phases of it. Most will probably happen is. PTS is all about bugs its not ever going to be a complete product from any company nor is it accurate representation of what things are going to be. Mostly what i take from this is they are avoiding the christmas and new yrs of the game being a mess and having to take time away from their families.

[casirabit]

While it might not be what most want to hear, I agree with this decision. Thank you.

[Ubarave]

Seen it a few times already, but im mostly interested in R-4. Are yall gonna try and release it with the expansion or offset it as previously planned?

 

Otherwise, im all for delays if it results in a better release! Go Team!

[JakRoanin]

First, thanks for posting Mr. Kanneg, it's always great to see your name on a post. Also, nobody minds waiting if it makes the final product better. Here are my questions...

 

1. Will the gearing quality of conquest be improved?

 

2. Does this mean the glitch that won't allow us to switch our Primary Combat styles on existing characters can have a fix?

 

3. Just how much story are we getting?

 

4. Will we be able to re-play class stories without making a new toon?

[xmarcusprimex]

Thank you for waiting until its ready

They arnt so much that as waiting till they get back from their month long vacation break to even look at it again. This missing time is not all being spent on working on the game.. it spent on them going away and not touching it. Mostly.

[BallisticKaine]

Its the decision to leave the 2nd Combat Style locked behind a suscription definitive? I think that making that decision wasnt really well thought. I hope the BW team can reconsider and make an effort to make the game more open to new players and give a fair chance to compete with the more popular mmorpgs like FFXIV, because making a money wall wont be the solution to all the game problems.

 

But if you are not paying into a subscription or buy Cartel Coins, then why should you get all the good stuff? Subscription amount monthly and Cartel Coin Purchase help fund these things. 2nd Combat Style should be locked behind subscription plain and simple. Personally on F2P should be limited on max level they can play too. Just like WoW does. I am tired of this old nut shell that F2P should get the same thing as paying subscribers. Sorry but life doesn't work that way and for people to think that is just CRAZY

[DraonaiMimnov]

Hey everyone,

 

I just made an announcement concerning the launch of our Legacy of the Sith expansion, and I encourage you to read the blog post.

 

We know you will have some questions in response to the blog, so feel free to ask them here and we'll be addressing them in an FAQ later today which we will continue update as you have more questions.

 

Be mindful of our forum guidelines as we want to ensure we can quickly answer your concerns and keep more information flowing your way.

 

---Keith---

 

Hey I was just wondering but is this an out of season April Fools joke?

[Toraak]

This seems like a pretty significant delay. With the game returning back to the PTS this week, I have to ask:

 

What exactly are you needing us to test? Is the delay a result of general QA? Specific systems not being ready?

 

Will we be receiving any updates between now and February 15th, 2022?

 

What systems are being built upon? Can we expect systems to change significantly, or will things broadly stay the same?

 

This delay is concerning, but thank you for making that hard decision over releasing the update well before it's ready. I appreciate it, and I'm sure the devs do too.

 

remember some of that delay will be during the holiday break. Doubt they'll do much from mid December, until the middle of Jan 2022.

[Kalnarius]

This is gonna leave a VERY sour taste in everyone's mouth. You announced this what 2 weeks ago and now a week before launch you delay it. You guys knew when you mentioned the release date that it wasn't ready at that time. You did this to boost your subscription numbers for the holidays plain and simple. You better be taking the next TWO months to rework the sad and rushed ability pruning you did to the classes, revert the changes to tacticals in game or just scrap all the pre 7.0 ones, be making some major improvements to character creation, or this is just gonna FLOP HARD CORE and the game will die.

 

You all heard the feedback on Guardian/Juggernaut and Sentinel/Marauder and how badly the choices you decide our did not work. You option to rework Grit Teeth because it seems to OP for the class is BS. If you still think that then just scrap ever pre 7.0 tactical scrapped from the game. Come up with complete knew ones then. There are just as many other OP tacticals out there for other classes that need a rework not just Grit Teeth.

 

Customization upgrades to character creation then to me is allow all Human Species to have tattoo options off all from every class story that has tattoo option. Remove Cyborg as a race, because lets be honest no one is born a cyborg, and allow cyborg to be an option for species that are basically human. So human, Chiss, Miraluka, Mirialan, Rattataki.

 

they are not going to rework the pruning unless they actually do more pruning and yes that is a strong possibility going for the game. if they feel some classes were not hit hard enough i would fully expect even harsher prunings going forward rather than them doing away with the idea of pruning.

[ddttor]

First, I really appreciate your decision. Thank you for not releasing 7.0 unfinished.

 

Still, can we get R-4 Anomaly on release then? That'd be nice

[Kalnarius]

remember some of that delay will be during the holiday break. Doubt they'll do much from mid December, until the middle of Jan 2022.

 

correct they will probably not start back up on LotS until jan. 15th if they even really do much to it at all. People are expecting a lot of work to be done for this. I really do not see them doing all that much to the expansion other than trying to avoid the holidays for emergency patches and maintenances. Thats all this delay really says to me is they want to be around for it maybe tweak a few things here and there but its not going to be as deeply or thoroughly polished as what people expect it would take 15 yrs for that to happen.

[LordCamTheGreat]

I for one am actually really happy to see a delay even if it was announced a little late. Take all the time you need to make sure the launch is as smooth as possible. Glad to know that everyone's feedback was so helpful and hopefully that will become evident soon enough.

 

Also thanks to Swtorista for the Q&A list, covers pretty much all the major topics I can think of.

[Star-rocks]

First of all, thank you so much for doing an FAQ here. I don’t usually use the forums, but I really appreciate that you’re opening up with the announcement of 7.0’s delay to answer questions we have.

 

My personal concern is regarding achievements. I have been working on the Spoils of War achievements, but am only at 32% completion. I recall that you have stated that the achievements will still be completable when 7.0 drops - that is an excellent decision, and the new legacy titles attached are icing on the cake.

 

However, I cannot help but ask… will players who finish the sets after 7.0 receive the appropriate legacy titles?

 

I realize that the legacy titles will likely be to honor the work done before 7.0, but I think it would be a mistake to make them no longer obtainable when LotS launches. Numerous players have progress on suits but haven’t finished them, and they’ve done much of the work already! Eight of the bonus sets drop very rarely apart from Dxun, Kai’s inventory, and Kai’s random unique item; another eight bonus sets drop ONLY from Kai’s unique and NiM Dxun. Considering how hard it is to finish a set such as Restorative Drive or Emergency Power, wouldn’t it make sense to let the legacy titles still be achievable past 7.0’s launch?

 

I do appreciate the legacy titles in any case; I just thought I’d share why it’d be wisest to keep them obtainable. I’m looking forward to rocking the Apex Predator legacy title on all my alts!

[Nmyownworld]

Thank you for posting this information, Keith Kanneg. I'm looking forward to the FAQ.

[xmarcusprimex]

This sounds extremely sad. it would be ok if 7.0. be delayed to early january but MID FEBRUARY? This is way too long, considering that there is nothing to do at current patch and people already got bored. What sense to suffer in this game until february when i finished all my things for 6.x expansion. And when you going to end ranked season? in february? lol

 

They all go away for a month break in mid-December to about mid-January or later. This means they will bugger off and not touch the game till then. So it gives them about 3 weeks or so to work on it next year. If they just didnt release expansions RIGHT BEFORE their winter break, none of us would ever have to wait almost 3 months for this to come out.

[merovejec]

Thank you for the info Keith!

 

Please take your time! We want quality, not quantity! This has been a rough time for many companies, not just you. Sooooo many working from home etc, its completely understandable.

[omaan]

Hey everyone,

 

I just made an announcement concerning the launch of our Legacy of the Sith expansion, and I encourage you to read the blog post.

 

We know you will have some questions in response to the blog, so feel free to ask them here and we'll be addressing them in an FAQ later today which we will continue update as you have more questions.

 

Be mindful of our forum guidelines as we want to ensure we can quickly answer your concerns and keep more information flowing your way.

 

---Keith---

 

Can you not delay next galactic season and ranked pvp season???there is really nothing to do during 2 months, and people want their pvp rewards and new galactic season to start...

[Kalnarius]

They all go away for a month break in mid-December to about mid-January or later. This means they will bugger off and not touch the game till then. So it gives them about 3 weeks or so to work on it next year. If they just didnt release expansions RIGHT BEFORE their winter break, none of us would ever have to wait almost 3 months for this to come out.

 

exactly people are thinking it is going to change a lot which it probably will not. we are still looking at the same thing being released feb 15th that was suppose to be released next tuesday lol its all about that vacation time with families for both player base and the company themselves. they may slightly alter numbers is about the limit to what they are going to do. unless they are going to throw in R-4 back into mix which technically they could but i see that being a 2 month window even more now behind so it could be april or may now before R-4 actually hits. so what really are we gaining other than them being around to actually bring servers down for maintenances during that timeframe probably nothing.

[codydmaan]

While it's nice to not push out a unfinished product. Most likely the update will ofc have tons of bugs anyway.

 

What I see here is bioware dropping the ball. Apparently they didn't assign enough workers to the project and if they did their not working fast enough.

 

I would understand a 2 week push back that makes sense to be fair.

 

However a 2 month push back means their is a tremendous amount of unfinished work. Which if their is a ton of unfinished work they could've pushed it back sooner and not get everyones hopes up the week before launch.

 

Apparently that means no launch party for the devs that they said they'd have in their live stream sorry about ur party.

 

You can do a ton of work in 2 months about like 40 working days then overtime let's say 50 days of work by thr team. So let's say theirs 5 members on the team working on the project. Your talking about 2000 man hours of unfinished work on the game.

I really think bioware should've told us sooner.

 

But anyways thanks for not giving us a update that needs 2000+ more man hours of work.

[omaan]

exactly people are thinking it is going to change a lot which it probably will not. we are still looking at the same thing being released feb 15th that was suppose to be released next tuesday lol its all about that vacation time with families for both player base and the company themselves. they may slightly alter numbers is about the limit to what they are going to do. unless they are going to throw in R-4 back into mix which technically they could but i see that being a 2 month window even more now behind so it could be april or may now before R-4 actually hits. so what really are we gaining other than them being around to actually bring servers down for maintenances during that timeframe probably nothing.

 

damn, indeed. I didn't think about their holiday vacation which will definitely mean more delays since they won't have enough working time lol. Pushing this farther than december is an extremely bad idea because of annual dev's holidays and weekends which means they won't work much during this period....

[Jephryp]

I'm really glad they bit the bullet and decided to delay the release rather than put out an unfinished product. I know that was not an easy decision.